Cisco and Microsoft Collaboration in Unified …...Communications Manager 5.0(4)+ and Cisco Unified Presence 1.0(2)+. In the first half of 2009, Cisco also plans to support its proven

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© 1992-2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 1 of 22

Cisco and Microsoft Collaboration in Unified Communications

Cisco and Microsoft have an established history of cooperating across technologies to

provide customers with innovative business solutions. In the area of unified

communications, the two companies are interoperating to help joint customers deliver

inclusive and business-transforming communications solutions using services and

applications from each company.

Although Cisco and Microsoft have distinct approaches to unified communications, these

approaches are complementary, intersecting at the user-experience level. Both companies are

committed to making real-time collaboration a transparent and effective experience for customers

and partners. To help achieve this goal, Cisco and Microsoft actively participate together in open-

standards working groups, such as the IETF. Developers from both companies also meet regularly

to discuss current integration efforts and to define future areas of integration.

Unified Communications

Cisco® Unified Communications solutions unify voice, video, data, and mobile applications on fixed

and mobile networks, delivering an easy-to-use, media-rich collaboration experience across

business, government agency, and institutional workspaces. These applications use the network

as the platform for enhancing competitive advantage by accelerating decision time and reducing

transaction time. The security, resilience, and scalability of the network enable users in any

workspace to connect — everywhere, every time, so everyone’s included.

The main components of Cisco Unified Communications Solutions include call processing,

presence, voicemail and unified messaging, video, conferencing and collaboration, mobility,

security, unified clients, and contact center services and applications. Table 1 lists unified

communications products both companies offer.

Table 1. Cisco and Microsoft Unified Communications Products

Unified Communications Components

Cisco Microsoft

Call processing Cisco Unified Communications Manager

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition

Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express

Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

IP phones Cisco Unified IP Phone 7900G low- to high-end wired and wireless phones

Third-party original equipment manufacturer (OEM) based on Microsoft specification

Presence Cisco Unified Presence Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005

Unified client Cisco Unified Personal Communicator (PC and Mac)

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005

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Conferencing and collaboration

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace® conferencing

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express

Cisco WebEx® meeting applications

Cisco WebEx Connect

Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Office Communications Server 2007

Video Cisco Unified Video Advantage

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace and MeetingPlace Express conferencing

Cisco Unified Videoconferencing

Cisco WebEx meeting applications

Cisco TelePresence

Microsoft Office Communications Server

Microsoft Office Live Meeting

Microsoft RoundTable

Voicemail and unified messaging

Cisco Unity® unified messaging

Cisco Unity Connection

Cisco Unity Express

Cisco Unified Messaging Gateway

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 for Unified Messaging

Contact center Cisco Unified Contact Center

Cisco Unified Contact Center Express

None

Mobility Cisco Unified Mobility

Cisco Unified CallConnector Mobility

Microsoft Windows Mobile

Mobile client Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator (Blackberry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile)

Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile

Groupware WebEx WebOffice

WebEx Connect

Microsoft Office SharePoint

Microsoft Office Groove

Microsoft Office Live

Secure network foundation

Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances

Cisco Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) Cisco VPN solutions

Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS)

Cisco Security Agent

Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC)

Cisco integrated services routers with quality of service (QoS)

Cisco Catalyst® switches with Power over Ethernet (PoE)

None

Email and directory services

None Microsoft Exchange

Microsoft Active Directory

Cisco Unified Communications Interoperability with Microsoft

Cisco offers several categories of unified communications interoperability with Microsoft:

● Cisco IP Telephony with Microsoft: If you want to use your Cisco Unified Communications

Manager investments with Microsoft technologies, Cisco offers click-to-call capabilities from

Microsoft Office Communicator, Microsoft desktop productivity applications, and Windows

Mobile handsets. With native simultaneous ringing capabilities of Cisco Unified

Communications Manager, you can answer incoming calls on either Microsoft Office

Communicator or your Cisco Unified IP Phone. In addition, you can enable Cisco Unified

Communications Manager and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition to

interoperate with Microsoft Exchange 2007 as a companion unified messaging solution.

● Cisco Presence with Microsoft: Cisco also offers interoperability through Cisco Unified

Presence and Cisco Unified Communications Manager so you can view the presence

status of Cisco Unified IP Phone users directly in the Microsoft Office Communicator client.

Business-to-business federation between Cisco Unified Presence and Microsoft Live

Communications or Office Communications Server facilitates ongoing collaboration

between businesses. With Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, you can add Microsoft

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Office Communicator users in other businesses to your buddy list, view their presence

status, and securely exchange instant messages for ongoing collaboration.

● Cisco Messaging with Microsoft: For unified or integrated messaging with Microsoft

Exchange email, Cisco offers three proven enterprise-class solutions. Cisco Unity facilitates

unified messaging with Microsoft Exchange so you can manage all email, voice, and fax

messages in a single inbox. Cisco Unity Connection is an integrated messaging solution

that offers access to voice messages from a Microsoft Outlook folder but requires less time

and effort to deploy. And Cisco Unity Express provides integrated messaging with Microsoft

Outlook for up to 250 users — ideal for small enterprises or branch offices.

● Cisco Conferencing and Collaboration with Microsoft: For conferencing and collaboration

with Microsoft, Cisco offers the ability to schedule Cisco Unified MeetingPlace, Cisco

WebEx, and Cisco TelePresence meetings directly from Microsoft Outlook. For real-time

collaboration, you can initiate impromptu Cisco Unified MeetingPlace and Cisco WebEx

meetings directly from Microsoft Office Communicator and use its presence and instant

messaging capabilities. In addition, Cisco WebEx Connect also facilitates asynchronous

collaboration by bringing together data from different sources (such as Microsoft Outlook

and SharePoint) into one place.

● Cisco Contact Center with Microsoft: The Cisco Unified CallConnector for Microsoft

Dynamics CRM integrates Cisco Unified Communications with the Microsoft Dynamics

CRM application at the desktop, without the need for additional hardware. It provides

greater employee productivity and organizational efficiencies, immediate information about

inbound and outbound calls, fast and easy click-to-dial functions from customer-

relationship-management (CRM) database records, and call-duration tracking, information

capture, and record creation.

● Cisco Network with Microsoft: Cisco integrated services routers (ISR) and Cisco Catalyst

switches provide the ideal foundation for delivering unified communications applications for

secure business-class, real-time communications and collaboration. Cisco integrated

services routers are Microsoft-certified gateways for Microsoft Office Communications

Server 2007 deployments.

Cisco IP Telephony with Microsoft

The interoperability between Cisco Unified Communications and Microsoft Office Live

Communications Server 2007 delivers enhanced functions to Microsoft Office Communicator 2007

users and can help your organization benefit from media-rich features inherent in the Cisco Unified

Communications Solution:

● Initiate a phone call from one Cisco Unified IP Phone to another directly from Microsoft

Office Communicator.

● Escalate instant messaging sessions to voice conversations by clicking the phone icon and

then clicking “Call.” This action rings both Cisco Unified IP Phones. You can initiate this

feature from an instant messaging chat session in progress or directly from the contact list.

● Redirect calls to mobile phones.

● Use Microsoft Office Communicator to accept incoming calls on a Cisco Unified IP Phone

● View incoming call notifications on your computer, with options to click to answer or click to

divert when calls are place to Cisco Unified IP Phones.

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● Access phone feature controls from Microsoft Office Communicator, including hang up,

hold, and transfer.

● Benefit from the core capabilities of Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco

Unified Communications Manager Business Edition, including digit translation and routing,

billing and recording, call screening and privacy, Call Admission Control (CAC) and quality-

of-service (QoS) capabilities, signaling and media security capabilities, and numerous

enhanced call-control services.

Figure 1 shows how to initiate a call using Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Cisco Unified

Communications Manager

Figure 1. Click-to-Call Dialing and Third-Party Call Control of Cisco Unified IP Phones Using Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 and Cisco Unified Communications Manager

Figure 2 shows how incoming calls to Cisco Unified IP Phones can be managed from Microsoft

Office Communicator 2007:

Figure 2. Incoming Call Management for Calls Directed to Cisco Unified IP Phones from Microsoft Office Communicator 2007

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1. A call is placed to a Cisco Unified IP Phone. Immediately, an incoming call notification

message appears within Microsoft Office Communicator.

2. You can accept the call by clicking the message or divert the message to another number by

selecting “Redirect” and choosing the number to receive the call.

Figure 3 shows how Microsoft Office Communicator manages calls to Cisco Unified IP Phones.

During an active call, you can simply click to hang up, hold, or transfer calls on your Cisco Unified

IP Phone.

Figure 3. Incoming Call Management for Calls Directed to Cisco Unified IP Phones from Microsoft Office Communicator 2007

Table 2 lists the solution components.

Table 2. Solution Components

Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.1(2) or later (including Business Edition)

● Cisco Unified Presence 6.0(4) or later

● Cisco Unified IP Phones

● Cisco IP Communicator and Cisco Unified Video Advantage (optional)

● Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

● Microsoft Office Communicator 2007*

● Microsoft Server 2003, Microsoft Server 2003 Active Directory, Microsoft Server 2003 Domain Name Service (DNS), and Microsoft SQL Server 2000, if using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2005 Enterprise Edition

* Microsoft Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005 support is also available with Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0(4)+ and Cisco Unified Presence 1.0(2)+.

In the first half of 2009, Cisco also plans to support its proven enterprise softphone and phone

control technology integrated with the presence and instant messaging capabilities of Microsoft

Office Communicator. This support will make it easy for you to place, receive, and manage calls

with the benefits of Cisco centralized call processing and tight integration with the network (for

example, CAC and QoS capabilities, enhanced call-control services, standards-based

conferencing, digit translation and routing, and billing). Cisco also plans to provide a simpler, more

robust architecture compared to the complexity of maintaining and supporting call processing in

both Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Microsoft Office Communications Server (for

example, in a simultaneous ring scenario discussed below).

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Native simultaneous ringing capabilities of Cisco Unified Communications Manager 7.0, allows

Microsoft Office Communicator users to answer incoming Cisco Unified Communications Manager

calls on either Office Communicator or Cisco Unified IP Phones. In addition to any other alternate

destination number associated with Cisco Unified IP Phone user, an inbound call to your Cisco

Unified IP Phone simultaneously rings your Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 client - allowing

you to answer business calls from your PC when you are away from your primary workspace.

Business calls extended and answered on Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 continue to remain

anchored in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, taking advantage of its rich centralized call-

processing capabilities for the duration of the call.

In addition, as a subset of simultaneous ringing capabilities, a standards-based direct Session

Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunk connection is also supported between Cisco Unified Communications

Manager and Microsoft Office Communications mediation server. Although such a deployment

increases system management overhead associated with managing multiple dial plans, it offers

your business the option to support basic intracompany telephony capabilities (such as call

transfer and call forwarding) between Cisco Unified IP Phone and Microsoft Office Communicator

users within the same business.

Table 3 lists solution components.


Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified Communications Manager 7.0 or later (including Business Edition) with Cisco Unified Mobility*

● Microsoft Office Communicator 2007


*Cisco Unified Communications Manager 6.1 also supports Direct SIP connectivity with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

For organizations using Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, Cisco IP Telephony with Microsoft

enables click-to-call capabilities directly from Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007 using a Microsoft

Outlook toolbar (Figure 4) for Cisco Unified Personal Communicator. This toolbar enables click-to-

call capabilities from Microsoft Outlook contacts and email. With Microsoft Outlook you can save

time and respond swiftly to queries by using the toolbar to initiate a call with Cisco Unified

Personal Communicator. You do not need to manually enter a number; simply click with the mouse

to communicate with anyone in your contacts list.

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Figure 4. Microsoft Outlook Toolbar for Cisco Unified Personal Communicator

Cisco Unified Personal Communicator also enables you to display free and busy availability

information based on your Microsoft Outlook calendar. For example, an appointment or meeting in

the calendar automatically changes your presence status to busy, eliminating the need to manually

update availability information when joining a meeting. Automatically maintaining availability and

status information helps you keep your presence information up-to-date at all times and makes

collaboration more efficient.

Table 4 gives solution components.


Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified Personal Communicator 1.2 or later

● Cisco Unified Presence 6.0 or later

● Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0 or later, or Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition

● Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 or 2003

● Microsoft Outlook 2007 or 2003

With the introduction of Click to Call (a free-to-download Cisco Unified Communications Widget for

PCs), you can instantly place Cisco Unified Communications Manager calls directly from your

Microsoft desktop applications and web browsers — without having to use the dial pad key on your

Cisco Unified IP Phone. You do not need Microsoft Office Communications Server to take

advantage of this capability (Figure 5).

Click to Call uses Cisco Unified Communications Manager WebDialer service to provide the

following capabilities through your Cisco Unified IP Phone:

● Simply highlight phone numbers and click to call from Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook,

Microsoft SharePoint, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox.

● Click to call from the Persona Menu (a commonly used rapid contact information lookup

capability available to Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft SharePoint) to call one of the phone

numbers associated with your contact list.

● Edit phone numbers before placing international calls, dial a co-worker’s extension, or

place a call outside the enterprise to contact business partners and customers.

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● View the history of the last 10 calls made from your Click to Call application from the

System Tray Menu and click to call previously dialed numbers.

Figure 5. Cisco Unified Communications Widget for PC — Click to Call



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified Communications

Manager 6.0 and later (including Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition )

● Click to Call application — a Cisco Unified Communications widget for PCs

● Cisco Unified IP Phones that support Cisco Unified Communications Manager WebDialer service

● Microsoft Windows XP (SP2) and Vista

● Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0

● Mozilla Firefox 1.5 and 2.0

● Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007

● Microsoft SharePoint 2003 and 2007

● Microsoft Office: ◦ Word 2003 and 2007 ◦ Excel 2003 and 2007 ◦ PowerPoint 2003

With Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator 7.0 for Windows Mobile, your business can extend rich

Cisco Unified Communications experiences to your mobile workers using Windows Mobile

handsets (Figure 6). With Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator 7.0 for Windows Mobile handsets,

your employees can:

● Access current company and personal directory information from everywhere in real time

● View busy or available status of colleagues

● Securely exchange text messages with colleagues

● View a list of messages on the “visual voicemail” display and select one to play back

● Receive and play back Cisco Unity voice messages on their mobile handset

● Proactively receive Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conference meeting notifications

● Access recent call histories for any of their phones on mobile handsets

In addition, Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator 7.0 for Windows Mobile handsets also allows your

business to extend rich calling capabilities of Cisco Unified Communications Manager to an

increasing mobile workforce. With Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator 7.0, you can simply click to

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place calls through Cisco Unified Communications Manager to customers, partners, and co-

workers directly from your Windows Mobile handset (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Dial via Office with Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator 7.0 for Windows Mobile Handsets



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified Mobile Communicator 7.0 (or later) for Windows Mobile

● Cisco Unified Mobility Advantage 7.0 (or later)

● Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 (on a supported handset)

Finally, the SIP standards implemented in Cisco IP telephony solutions enable interoperability with

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Cisco Unified Communications Manager or Cisco Unified

Communications Manager Business Edition. Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Cisco

Unified Communications Manager Business Edition currently offer standards-based SIP

interoperability with Microsoft Exchange 2007. This interoperability simplifies installation and

reduces the overall solution cost by eliminating the need for third-party gateways and software. To

interoperate with non-SIP, older, or nonintegrated telephony systems or with IP private branch

exchanges (IP PBXs), Microsoft Exchange 2007 requires a third-party gateway that can receive

and correctly forward incoming calls to the unified messaging server. For message-waiting

indicator capability (capability to light the message lamp on the phone) and Short Message Service

(SMS) notification, third-party software from Geomant is required when using Microsoft Exchange

Server 2007.



Cisco Microsoft

Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.1 or later, or Cisco Unified Communications Business Edition

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Cisco Presence with Microsoft

The interoperability between Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unified

Communications Manager Business Edition, Cisco Unified Presence, and Microsoft Office

Communications Server 2007 allows you to view Cisco Unified IP Phone presence information

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(such as “in a call” or “idle”) in Microsoft Office Communicator 2007. You can see whether or not

the person you are trying to reach is on a Cisco Unified IP Phone, helping you determine the most

appropriate form of contact.

Figures 7 and 8 show the Cisco Unified IP Phone presence display and the change of presence

information when you make a call.

Figure 7. Display of Cisco Unified IP Phone Presence Information on Microsoft Office Communicator 2007

Figure 8. Cisco Unified IP Phone Presence Changes from “Available” to “In a Call” in Microsoft Office Communicator 2007

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Figures 9 and 10 show presence-aware speed dialing, call logs, and directory on Cisco Unified IP

Phones.

Figure 9. Presence-Aware Speed Dialing

Figure 10. Presence-Aware Call Logs and Directory



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.1 or later (including Cisco Unified Communications Manager Business Edition)

● Cisco Unified Presence 6.0.2 or later

● Cisco Unified IP Phones or Cisco IP Communicator


● Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 ** ◦ Microsoft Server 2003, Microsoft Server 2003 Active Directory, Microsoft Server 2003 Domain Name Service (DNS), and Microsoft SQL Server 2000, if using Microsoft Office Communications Server 2005 Enterprise Edition

** LCS 2005 support is also available with Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.0(4)+ and Cisco Unified Presence 1.0(2)+.

In addition, Cisco Unified Presence supports business-to-business federation that enables policy-

based interconnection between different enterprises to enable them to securely exchange instant

messages and presence information. With introduction of Cisco Unified Presence 7.0, Cisco

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supports business-to-business federation with Microsoft Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005

and Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007. This capability allows Cisco Unified

Personal Communicator 7.0 users in one business to add a Microsoft Office Communicator user in

another business to their buddy list, view their presence status, and exchange instant messages

for ongoing collaboration.



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified Presence 7.0 or later

● Cisco Unified Personal Communicator 7.0 or later

● Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005


Cisco Messaging with Microsoft

The Cisco Unity solution portfolio provides voice, integrated, and unified messaging options that

transparently integrate with Microsoft Exchange. Cisco Unity, Cisco Unity Connection, and Cisco

Unity Express applications support Microsoft Exchange.

Support for mixed deployments of voice, integrated, and unified messaging and for different

versions of Microsoft Exchange Server provides a cost-effective migration path to unified

messaging.

Cisco Unity unified messaging users benefit from the simplicity of having email, voice, and fax

messages in their Microsoft Outlook inbox and from the advanced options of the Cisco Unity

solution, which scales to meet the needs of large organizations, including the following:

● Alternative device recognition: The Cisco Unity solution automatically recognizes alternative

devices (such as mobile phones) when accessing the system, streamlining access.

● Secure messaging: You can retrieve encrypted voice messages only through authorized

clients connected to the network; authorized clients also can configure the message

expiration date.

● Message monitoring: You can listen to and pick up your calls while a message is being

recorded.

● Cisco Unity ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook: You can play, compose, and respond to voice

messages from within Microsoft Outlook. You also can play back messages on your Cisco

Unified IP Phone or mobile phone (Figure 11).

● Cisco Unity Visual Message Locator: You can view, sort, search, and play back voice

messages from your Cisco Unified IP Phone display. .

With Cisco Unity Connection — a feature-rich messaging platform for enterprises providing

voicemail, integrated messaging, speech recognition, and streamlined installation and

management — and Microsoft Outlook, you can access and manage your voice messages in an

Outlook folder through Internet Access Message Protocol (IMAP) integration with Microsoft

Exchange. Similar to Cisco Unity messaging, Cisco Unity Connection also offers the ViewMail for

Microsoft Outlook player, secure messaging and numerous enterprise-class features.

In addition, Cisco Unity Express — which provides cost-effective voicemail, integrated messaging,

interactive voice response (IVR), and Automated-Attendant services for small to medium-sized

businesses (SMBs) and enterprise branch offices — also enables you to view and manage your

voice messages from a folder in Microsoft Outlook.

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Figure 11. Microsoft Outlook and Cisco Unity ViewMail for Microsoft Outlook



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unity 5.0 and 7.0 ** (for unified messaging)

● Cisco Unity Connection 2.1 and 7.0 ** (for integrated messaging)

● Cisco Unity Express 3.2 and 7.0 (for integrated messaging)

● Microsoft Exchange Server 2000, 2003, or 2007 (for unified or integrated messaging with Cisco Unity unified messaging)

● Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002 (XP), 2003, or 2007 (for integrated messaging with Cisco Unity Connection)

● Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007 and Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 (for integrated messaging with Cisco Unity Express)

** Cisco Unity 4.2 and Cisco Unity Connection 1.2 support Microsoft Exchange 2000 and 2003.

Cisco Conferencing and Collaboration with Microsoft

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Conferencing

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace conferencing has multiple solution options that can help your

organization simplify the user experience and system management by integrating with a Microsoft

environment. Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for Microsoft Outlook makes it simple to set up and

attend integrated voice, video, and web conferences directly from an Outlook calendar (Figure 12).

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express also integrates with Outlook.

To set up a Cisco Unified MeetingPlace rich-media conference, a meeting organizer simply checks

the “Make this a MeetingPlace meeting” box on the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace tab of the Outlook

meeting request form. When the organizer sends the meeting invitations, Cisco Unified

MeetingPlace for Microsoft Outlook reserves resources on the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system

and provides Outlook with all the meeting information to send to invitees. After successfully setting

up the meeting on the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace system, Outlook sends the meeting invitation

with the meeting attendance information. If the organizer needs to change the meeting time, the

organizer can simply make the change in Outlook; the associated conference will be automatically

rescheduled.

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Figure 12. Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Scheduling in Microsoft Outlook

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace for Microsoft Outlook makes it easy to join a meeting by providing

simple point-and-click attendance options. At the time of the meeting, the Cisco Unified

MeetingPlace tab includes a Connect Me button with options for connecting to the voice, web, and

video portions of the conference. Clicking this button automatically dials out to the user's telephone

(or video system) and simultaneously connects the user's browser to the web conference. This

degree of simplicity helps meetings start on time so users are ready to be productive instead of

spending valuable time struggling with the video remote control or connecting into separate voice

and web systems.

Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Directory Services integrates with Microsoft Active Directory to simplify

administration, enhance security, and improve the user experience by providing an automated

means for creating and updating Cisco Unified MeetingPlace user databases.

Additionally, the integration of the rich-media conferencing capabilities of Cisco Unified

MeetingPlace conferencing with the presence and text messaging capabilities of Microsoft Office

Live Communications Server and Office Communicator allows you to establish Cisco Unified

MeetingPlace conferences directly from the Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 client and quickly

escalate instant messaging sessions to audio conferences.

The conferencing features of the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace solution are simple point-and-click

options that are accessible from Microsoft Office Communicator. Figure 13 shows a Microsoft

Office Communicator user escalating an instant message chat session to a Cisco Unified

MeetingPlace conference session by clicking the Conference button on the toolbar. The invitees

see a dialog box, where they can click the Go button to have the Cisco Unified MeetingPlace

application dial the user’s phone and connect that user to the audio conference.

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Figure 13. Initiating a Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Conference Using Microsoft Office Communicator



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 6.0 or later (Launch and control Cisco Unified MeetingPlace voice conferences from Microsoft Office Communicator.)

● Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Microsoft Integration Package 5.4 or later (Set up and attend Cisco Unified MeetingPlace meetings from Microsoft Outlook **.)

● Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 and Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005

● Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007 and Microsoft Exchange 2000/2003/2007 supported for Cisco Unified MeetingPlace.

** Outlook integration is also available for Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express Versions 2.0 and1.2; support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 is planned for a maintenance release of Cisco Unified MeetingPlace 7.0.

Cisco WebEx Meeting Applications

Scheduling a WebEx meeting is just like scheduling any other meeting using Microsoft Outlook.

With a simple click, meeting hosts can schedule, invite users, and start meetings directly from their

Outlook calendar. This integration eliminates the need to book meetings on the web or maintain

separate schedules. When it is time to join a meeting, attendees simply click the calendar or the

email link (Figure 14).

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Figure 14. Schedule WebEx Meetings in Microsoft Outlook



Cisco WebEx Microsoft

● Meeting Center, Training Center, Event Center, and Sales Center

● Available today with WebEx Business Suite 23 or later

● Microsoft Outlook 2000 or later

Microsoft Office Communicator and Windows Messenger users also can benefit from WebEx

interoperability. Meeting hosts can start, invite people, and join meetings directly from the Microsoft

Office Communicator or Windows Messenger applications (Figure 15).

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Figure 15. Schedule WebEx Meetings Using Microsoft Office Communicator

With one click, hosts can invite contacts into a WebEx meeting. The attendee simply clicks a URL

in the chat message to join the meeting, eliminating the cumbersome process of going to a

website to start and invite attendees into WebEx meetings (Figure 16).

Figure 16. Escalate Instant Messaging Sessions into WebEx Meetings




● Meeting Center, Support Center, Training Center, and Sales Center

● Available with WebEx Business Suite 26

● Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 or later

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Additionally, you can easily start WebEx meetings from any Microsoft Office application (Figure

17). There is no need to leave the application in which you are working to start a meeting. Hosts

can invite attendees using the WebEx One-Click “Invite to Meeting” function.

Figure 17. Start WebEx Meetings from Any Microsoft Office Application

WebEx One-Click desktop integration enables you to start and join WebEx meetings instantly,

right from your desktop task bar (Figure 18). Benefits to this convenient integration include the

ability to start an instant meeting from the desktop (eliminating the need to log onto the WebEx

site) and join any meeting from the WebEx site from the desktop. All you need is the meeting

host’s email address. You can integrate your Outlook Global Address Book and personal contacts

with WebEx applications to easily send meeting invitations to attendees inside or outside the

company.

Figure 18. Start Cisco WebEx Meetings from Your Windows Desktop


Table 14. Table 14 Solution Components


● Meeting Center, Training Center, Support Center, and Sales Center

● Available in WebEx Business Suite 20 or later

● Microsoft Windows 2000 and XP

● Microsoft Outlook 2000 or later

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Organizations using Microsoft SharePoint can easily provide an “anytime” collaboration solution

that includes WebEx Meeting Services and an enhanced meeting collaboration environment. Basic

interoperability with WebEx SharePoint enables all WebEx centers to be integrated for launching,

scheduling, and viewing of WebEx meetings. It also supports single sign-on by using Active

Directory and Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM).

WebEx SharePoint Integration Basic is available at no cost from www.webex.com/lp/sharepoint.



Cisco Microsoft

● Training Center, Meeting Center, Sales Center, Support Center, and Event Center

● WebEx Business Suite 23 or later

● Windows 2003 Server

● Active Directory Application Mode

● Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 and 3.0

● Microsoft Office SharePoint Services 2003 and 2007

Cisco WebEx Connect

Cisco WebEx Connect facilitates asynchronous collaboration by bringing together data from

different sources (such as Microsoft Outlook and SharePoint) into one place. Cisco WebEx

Connect makes it simple to access Microsoft Outlook email messages, calendar information, and

SharePoint documents residing in file repositories — all through one interface.

You can quickly access your Microsoft Outlook Calendar information such as meeting subject,

location, times, conference details, and attendees directly from Cisco WebEx Connect. Cisco

WebEx Meeting Application meetings that are scheduled from Cisco WebEx Connect are also

registered on your Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

Cisco WebEx Connect users can rapidly access Microsoft Outlook Email information directly from

Cisco WebEx Connect (Figure 19). Rather than having to sort through Microsoft Outlook

mailboxes, you can directly access the last 10 email exchanges with one of your team members

directly from the Cisco WebEx Connect interface and have this information readily accessible

during a collaboration session. In addition, with Cisco WebEx Connect you can view contact or

team member availability information (such as online, in Cisco WebEx meeting, busy in their

Microsoft Outlook Calendar, or available on their mobile device) from the Microsoft Outlook

interface.

http://www.webex.com/lp/sharepoint

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Figure 19. Access Microsoft Outlook Information from Cisco WebEx Connect

Cisco WebEx Connect also provides access to SharePoint file repositories from WebEx Connect

spaces. You can upload, view, and edit SharePoint documents directly from a WebEx Connect;

permissions are governed by the SharePoint site access policies. Thus you can take advantage of

your current SharePoint investments while benefiting from the communication and collaboration

capabilities provided within Cisco WebEx Connect.



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco WebEx Connect ● Microsoft Outlook 2003 or greater

● Microsoft Office SharePoint Services 2003 and 2007

Cisco TelePresence

Cisco TelePresence creates the feeling of being “in person” with participants in remote locations.

An integral part of this solution, Cisco TelePresence Manager makes it easy for you to set up and

launch calls and eliminates complexity for administrators managing Cisco TelePresence

deployments. The software is designed to make the in-room experience for users as natural and

simple as possible, with “one-button-to-push” meeting launch and automatic display of meetings

on the in-room IP phone.

The Cisco TelePresence Manager scheduling and management software facilitates call scheduling

and setup from common enterprise groupware such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes. This

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software gives administrators Cisco TelePresence call and system usage and operations reporting

capabilities.

Cisco TelePresence Manager adds value for IT managers by providing the data to justify the Cisco

TelePresence investment and helps reduce the cost of ownership by integrating with existing

infrastructure.

Cisco TelePresence Manager is essential for delivering the full value of a Cisco TelePresence

meeting solution. It collects information about Cisco TelePresence systems from Cisco Unified

Communications Manager and associates those systems to their physical locations as defined in

Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange. It also automatically collects information about multipoint

capabilities and allocates those resources when needed, allowing you to schedule both point-to-

point and multipoint Cisco TelePresence meetings from your Microsoft Outlook group calendar.

That schedule is automatically sent to the Cisco TelePresence systems involved in the call. You

can launch your Cisco TelePresence meeting with the push of a button by simply selecting your

meeting from the list of meetings shown on the Cisco Unified IP Phone in the meeting room.



Cisco Microsoft

● Cisco TelePresence Manager 1.3 or later

● Cisco Unified Communications Manager 5.1.2b or later

● Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and 2007

● Microsoft Outlook Client 2003 and 2007

● Microsoft Active Directory 2003

Cisco Contact Center with Microsoft

The Cisco Unified CallConnector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM integrates Cisco Unified

Communications with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM application at the desktop, without the need for

additional hardware. Cisco Unified CallConnector for Microsoft Dynamics CRM provides greater

employee productivity and organizational efficiencies, immediate information about inbound and

outbound calls, fast and easy “click-to-dial” functions from CRM database records, and call-

duration tracking, information capture, and record creation.

Cisco Network with Microsoft

Cisco integrated services routers are ideal for SMBs and small enterprise branch offices. The

routers enable businesses to reduce costs by deploying a single, resilient system for fast, highly

secure delivery of multiple mission-critical business services, including data, security, and

wireless. Cisco integrated services routers provide IP-to-public switched telephone network

(PSTN) gateway functions, allowing businesses and agencies using Microsoft Office

Communications Server 2007 to interconnect with service providers and the public network.

Summary

Cisco and Microsoft have a strong history of collaboration in the development of their respective

products and technologies. Both companies are actively working on product integrations across

several product areas to provide organizations with maximum flexibility in deploying unified

communications. Cisco and Microsoft are building on open standards such as SIP to allow joint

customers to use their existing resources and to deliver workspace-transforming collaboration

experiences that increase individual and organizational productivity.

White Paper


For More Information

For more information about Cisco Unified Communications, visit

http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcommunications.

The Cisco products, services, or features identified in this document may not yet be available or

may not be available in all areas and may be subject to change without notice. Consult your local

Cisco representative for information about the products or services available in your area. You can

find additional information at http://www.cisco.com. Actual performance and environmental costs of

Cisco products will vary depending on individual customer configurations and conditions.

Printed in USA C11-392556-05 09/08

http://www.cisco.com/go/unifiedcommunications

http://www.cisco.com/

Documents

Cisco and Microsoft Collaboration in Unified …...Communications Manager 5.0(4)+ and Cisco Unified Presence 1.0(2)+. In the first half of 2009, Cisco also plans to support its proven